Model Wars and the Birth of the Supermodel
I already know I’m going to be living for the Cindy Crawford-produced model drama when it debuts on NBC sometime in 2016. The show will focus on the infamous “model wars” between three top New York modelling agencies that began in 1977 and lasted well into the ’80s. Before John Casablancas established Elite’s New York office in 1977, the two ruling agencies in the country were Ford and Wilhelmina (who was a former Ford model) and, even though Eileen Ford thought of Wilhelmina as a traitor, they tried not to step on each other’s feet. Casablancas, fresh from Paris and a member of the European jetset elite, was young more open-minded to the decadent ways of the late ’70s disco era. He made Eileen Ford look like a nun.